The Greatest Professional Wrestling Concept Album EVER: Track By Track

Killer Lyrics: Some people leave before it's over; but most of them stay / Some hide behind their programs - some turn away.

The album’s final song is a stripped back soundtrack to defeat. Matt Douglas’ woodwind score carries a minute flicker of hope over Darnielle’s emotive yet exasperated vocals.

The lyrics are written from the point of view of a babyface who has lost the titular match and must now be shaved bald. This consequence of loss is second only to a luchador unmasking. Though comparing this track to Unmasked! you wouldn’t know it.

In keeping with kayfabe, the narrator struggles and has to be held down on a folding chair in the centre of the ring. His interior monologue is settled and observant. Like all good wrestling angles, it is the audience’s reaction that matters. Some fans leave in disgust and even some of those who stay can’t watch, using programs to hide behind.

Once the match is over, and he has finished his post-match rituals, the protagonist is left lamenting about his career and sacrifices. He draws comparisons between the stars in the sky, which he gazes on, and the “cheap cars” that crowd the parking lot where he stands.

Wrestling may not be the most glamourous business for those on the bottom of the heap, yet no matter how dim the star seems to flicker, it is always just enough to keep the dream alive...